in new jersey this morning, it remains a dangerous situation. right now, the national guard is delivering ready to eat meals, mres,males ready to eat. the extent of the damage is realized. >> we are slowly getting back to nar mall this morning. people are heading back to work and students back at school. good morning and welcome to news 4 midday. i'm barbara harrison. >> i'm keith rust. it's wednesday, october 31st, 2012. a 15-year-old is dead after

being struck by a car while walking to school. it happened around 7:00 this morning at germantown road. chopper 4 flew over the scene. the tenth grader at seneca valley high school was walking to school when the teen was hit by the car. the driver stayed at the scene. they are investigating what caused the accident. we have a crew on the way to the scene and will bring update >> at this hour, our area is getting back to normal after sandy. today, the federal government is reopened. most students in the area are back to class. the numbers onandy's destruction remain staggering. the storm is to blame for 55 deaths nationwide. power outages stand at 55 homes and businesses down from 8.5 million. sandy is shaping up to be one of the costliest disasters in the u.s. it's estimated to cost between $20 billion and $50 billion in

damage. the worst may not be over for some flood prone neighborhoods in the area. the river has gone down somewhat. news 4s melissa mollet is live. what is it looking like out there now? >> reporter: good morning, barbara. high tide came and went at 10:06. take a look at this, completely dry here. we have a couple patches of water. nothing like what we were dealing with yesterday. let's take a look at that. 24 hours ago, you can see what a big difference it is. yesterday, i was standing in six or seven inches of water. today, standing on the ground, this road technically opened, but not much traffic. still, restaurants, bunesses, homeowners in the area bracing for potential problems tomorrow. predictions are the flooding here in old town alexandria will get worse before better peaking on thursday. this store, at the corner of

union and king was a message for sandy as everyone here watches and waits for the rising water. >> i feel sorry for the store owners. i looked through a window and it looks like they cleared the merchandise off the shelves. >> reporter: they are worried about the rising potomac and many are without power, worried about this mess. some on this car. >> we had a crew show up from the cable company and they said they have never seen anything as bad as the change reaction that hit the poles in this neighborhood and advised us to stay inside because we had power lines everywhere. >> the family that lived here was inside when they heard this pole come crashing down. take a look at the lines that stretch up to another pole that ripped that pole over to the side. behind me here, in the distance, another tree came down bending the pole as well down there.

>> it's been frustrating and surprising because, you know, we are used to power outages here. we have never had this situation where there's power lines across my yard. they are lying across the front of my yard, the side of the yard. >> reporter: it's been a day and a half of calls to cable companies, neibors keeping on eye on downed trees. power lines you have to step over to get anywhere. crews on scene to clean this up, remove the trees, right the poles. >> it's a really bad storm. i have been without power a day and a half. it's hard to be without power. >> the sandbags and plastic tarps that have been on guard have remained. all eyes on the potomac. >> i thought they were going to take them down. i didn't realize they were still going to get hit. >> reporter: now, we just got off the phone with dominion power telling us 3:00 is wen they expect to restore power to

260 people out in the mcclain neighborhood where we were earlier. remember to always stay away from downed power lines. as for this area, high tide comes through at midnight tonight. everybody is here crossing their fingers hoping it's not a major issue. live in alexandria, melissa mollet, news 4. back to you. >> thank you. utility crews are working around the clock to restore power. they expect to have the lights on in virtually all of their customers homes by tomorrow night. plenty of work to do to make it happen. more than 17,000 customers in the area are without electricity. pepco has less than 1200 customers without power. bge is working to restore electricity to 19,000 people in the area. more than 2500 customers are waiting for their power to come on. the governor of maryland and virginia are on the eastern

shore touring storm damage. bob mcdonnell and martin o'malley checking out the impacts. about 100 feet of that famous fishing pier was destroyed. parts of town saw three feet of standing water from flooding. o'malley will visit princefield which saw the worst flooding since 1985. >> turning to the weather we have out there today. we have clouds with blue showing through. >> it looks better than the last few days. veronica johnson is in for tom kierein with the first 4 forecast. >> hey there, guys, how are you today? a little bit of blue showing through. a southwest wind. it will help warm us up today. here is what's going on right now on satellite and radar. the showers and sprinkles for morning pushing through mainly east of us. i think we'll continue to see

the trend of moisture making its way out of here and more breaks in the cloud cover. current temperature stands at 48 degrees with a south wind of 12 miles per hour. at 12 miles per hour, again, a little bit of a blue sky and sunshine coming to us right now. we'll check on the temperatures now. d.c. coming in at 48 degrees. buoy in hill crest heights. 47 degrees. chantilly, 47. damascus and kensington to the north. the current temperature is at 45 degrees. coming up a little later, how high the temperatures will go. the southwest wind will warm us up. sunshine. meanwhile, i'm going to leave you with this. garrett county, maryland. they have been getting snow. they have had over two feet of snow. we are going to check on the radar throughout the area and coming up in a little bit, in a couple minutes, a halloween planning forecast for you. a lot of neighborhoods trick or

treating tonight. >> on the picture, break out the plows, break out the shovel. >> it's a heavy snow, too. we'll talk about the snow ratio, too. >> thank you. plenty of flooding to be seen from the air. take a look at this upsidedown plane. plenty of flooding there. many places overcome with water. the heavy rain caused the river to flood following the community park. that park is likely to stay closed for awhile. the river is rising higher. >> it's easier to get around using public transportation today. for the first time in two days, metro trains and buses are running on a normal weekday schedule. expect delays on some bus routes because of fallen trees. amtrak is running again with limited service. there's no express service along the northeast corridor and no service to new york city because of flooded tunnels. back here in maryland and virginia, services back to

normal. power problems and flooding could cause delays. now to another story. a multicar crash on the outer loop of the beltway caused massive delays in maryland during the morning rush. it happened around 11:00 causing 14-mile back up. we are told the car involved, a car, a truck and tractor-trailer with no trailer. police are not releasing any information about the victims or what caused this crash. >> that accident causes a lot of delays this morning. we are going to check to see how things are moving now. >> they were moving slow before. are they just as slow danella? >> that area is much better. we are talking 14-mile back up. the accident was new hampshire avenue. you can see on the outer loop, it's nice and clear now. road work is slowing you down as you make your way toward the road. the cones are up blocking the left lane as well as the right

lane. you'll have to merge toward the center lane. traveling on 395 northbound at seminary, cones block the left lane. delays start at the beltway. slow past seminary road. back to you. >> thanks. today president obama will see the devastation sandy left behind firsthand. he just made an unscheduled stop at fema headquarters here in the district who see how they are handling the response to the storm. he will assess the damage there. the state's governor, chris christie will join him on the tour. he commended the presint yesterday on his handling of this crisis. new today, fires sparked by sandy rekindled in a new jersey shore time. multiple fires fueled by natural gas lines. not far from seaside heights. 14 homes were destroyed by the

fire in the town. firefighters can't reach the scene because the road is impassable. an obstacle rescue crews are running up and down the coast. daniele has more on the clean up efforts. >> reporter: from the garden state to the city that never sleeps, an entire coastline is waking up to ea rlty caused by hurricane sandy. >> the scariest thing i have been through. >> reporter: homes that ripped from their foundation are standing. in seaside heights, pieces of the popular funtown float in the ocean. >> we are lucky we are here today. >> reporter: homeowners hope floodwaters will recede. >> i have never seen anything like this before. >> reporter: first responders are trying to rescue victims cut off by the surge. >> it came up very fast. i looked at the street and i

said i think the ocean is coming down the street. >> reporter: tidal flooding paralyzed much of lower manhattan filling subway lines and tunnels, covering runways at laguardia airport. >> cars destroyed. they were submerged under water. >> fire, not water proves the biggest threat leaving 100 homes unrecognizable. >> it was a storm of historic intensity. new yorkers are resilient. >> a resilience millions must rely on to rebuild in the wake of the storm. in tom rivers, nrnew jersey, ne 4 news. >> a levee breach in little fairy. it sent four feet of water pouring into the streets. people had to be pulled to safety. governor chris christie says it saved hundreds of lives. >> trading is under way at the new york stock exchange for the

first time in two days. the mayor rang the opening bell. the market got off to a good start. the dow is up at this hour. the last time the exchange was closed for two days due to weather was 1888. we'll have an update later in the newscast from cnbc. 13 minutes after 11:00 is the time right now. coming up, new information this morning for people who want to take advantage of early voting. >> how border agents were able to stop this vehicle just short. stay with us.

right now, mitt romney is in florida. the republican nominee canceled events out of respect to sandy's victims. yesterday, he helped in ohio.

he will make three stops in the sunshine state. president obama continues dealing with the impact of sandy, joe biden will campaign in florida. he'll be in sarasota in a few minutes. president obama plans to return to the campaign trail tomorrow with stops in wisconsin, nevada and colorado. >> early voting is open again in our area. sandy forced voting centers to close for two days. now, they are back in business. you'll have extra time to cast your ballot. martin o'malley took advantage. he tweeted a picture of himself in the process. tony tull is live in landover. hey, tony, what's going on? >> reporter: earlier, some voters had to deal with broken voting machines then hurricane sandy. today, they are back open. the turnout immense. if you think i'm joking, take a look at this learning center in prince george's county. hundreds of people saying no matter what, they were getting inside to cast their vote.

some call it a case of stir crazy due to sandy. others said they were doing their part. early voting is back at the sports and learning center. hundreds of residents lined up to cast their vote. >> marvelous. marvelous. love it. >> if i had to go where i normally have to go to vote, i would be outside. it could be raining. i still would have went. >> a vip event to fill out his ballot. >> 46 early voting centers. all of them are operational. three of them on generator power. >> he was accompanied by the state's attorney and angela brooks as well. >> we talk about the right to vote. there's a duty to vote. we encourage every citizen to make sure they get here. >> reporter: hurricane sandy caused closures, but they are back with extended hours.

you can cast your vote at 8:00 a.m. they will be open through friday. no matter how long the line or how long the wait, they are in it for the long haul. >> rilgt here. i have to do it. mm-hmm. i don't have nowhere to be. i'm going to be in this line. >> you are supposed to vote. it's your duty. things are on your mind. make your vote count. >> keith and barbara, voting officials want to stress voting centers will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. voting goes through friday evening. disabled, over 80 years old, on oxygen or in a wheelchair get to the front of the line. tony tull, news 4. >> thanks. early voting resumed in the district as well. it's making up for the day's lost to sandy by extending hours. you can vote until 9:00 at night. erly absentee voting is urpd way in fairfax county. >> we have a school closing to tell you about. buoy high school is closing at

12:20 p.m. due to partial power outages there. >> veronica johnson is back in house. v.j., very jolting not just for our area, but around the country. >> western maryland, i showed that image earlier. here is another one out of maryland where they had over two feet of snow. look at that. that's a heavy, weighty type of snow. 5-1 ratio where it takes one inch of liquid to make five inches of snow. it's a stressful type of snow. it's so hard to clean up. it's what you are dealing with there, leading to the power outages. as far as what we can see here, a little bit of sunshine. 48 is the temperature. it's cold out there. chilly here at 48 degrees. still a wind that is blowing. it's 12 miles per hour right now. meanwhile, the other story, the fact that we have river and tidal floodingaking place with

times expected to be one to two feet above average for today. in frederick county, maryland, 19.27 feet. flood stages 15. we are seeing the water levels start to come down around little falls there. flood stage is ten feet. they are now at 10.14 expected to crest at 10.6 later today, then come down throughout the day tomorrow. that's what we are seeing right now. on storm team 4 radar, look at that. the spin is still taking place with sandy. it made its way further up to the north. rainshowers, a few sprinkles and snow that continues to fall in western pennsylvania. look at that as we zoom in. we have a little bit of sunshine coming to us here. we have sprinkles and light showers. hagerstown, frederick and winchester as we go through the day, less that a chance, clouds ruling out right now. it will be the case with more clouds than sunshine.

we range from 43 in hagerstown. greenville at 47. manassas and falls church 45 degrees right now. here is a look at the future weather. clouds through the day. here we are at 3:00. throughout the overnight, evening included, mostly cloudy skies. tomorrow, a little bit more sunshine will be coming our way. snow showers finally wayning and by friday, partly sunny sky. for your afternoon, mostly cloudy, cool and breezy. 52 to 57 degrees. here is the scare cast for you. the important halloween forecast between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. creepy clouds and chilly conditions with the temperature between 46 and 50 degrees. a lot of kids may be putting on a jacket. i know they do not like doing that. they will probably put a jacket over their costumes. look at the end of the week, we'll talk more about the rest of the weekend in a bit.

i guess i'm headed outside, right? >> are you? you tell us. >> yes, you are. >> we don't have any wind. >> the wind picks up tomorrow. >> thanks a lot. >> we are going check on midday traffic and see how things are moving around the area. >> here is the woman to tell us what's going on outside? >> not so good. a couple accidents. chevy chase along willard avenue, the lanes are blocked at wisconsin avenue because of the crash there. this disabled vehicle at columbia pike toward dustin road, the left lane is blocked by the disabled vehicle. good news if you are along vw parkway, the travel lanes are open. a live look at i-95 past 100. north and south, you look great. back to you both. >> thanks so much. >> it's 11:23. still ahead on news 4 midday, are you getting ready for halloween or last minute costume

ideas? also, what you can expect in georgetown tonight. >> incredible stories for women who went into labor during hurricane sandy. >> here is a look at what's hot on www.nbcwashington.com. anncr: it's said that character is what we do... when we think no one is looking. mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas. his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

take a look at this. this is one way you could try to cross a border. the problem is, it didn't work for these folks. two men trying to enter the u.s. illegally got stuck on the fence. as you can see, the makeshift ramp they made did not work. the two men inside fled back into mexico with everything in the car. when border patrol agents approached. >> i guess they didn't get the car down. >> now, this is halloween. in light of sandy, many

communities have had to change their plans. activities like trick or treating have been postponed or canceled. we have a list of those as well as a way to announce neighborhoods changes at www.nbcwashington.com. there are, though, plenty of festivities going on as planned. police expect the usual heavy flow of pedestrian traffic through georgetown. there are a number of traffic restrictions. tonight, many busy georgetown streets will be cut off to through traffic. they are in place at 6:00 tonight until 4:00 tomorrow morning. >> it's 11:28. coming up at news 4 midday, remembering kennedy's white house chief of staff. how she became an expert of contemporary etiquette. flights still being canceled. when things are expected to get back to normal. >> when the clouds are going to clear out. stay with us, we'll be right back. anncr: washington's revolving door.

george allen's made a career of it. politicians go in. corporate lobbyists come out. in the senate, allen took money from big corporate interests... voting their way... for tax breaks for companies that ship virginia... jobs overseas. when we voted him out, allen cashed in. now allen wants another round. supporting a plan that will cost us more jobs. virginia can't trust george allen. the democratic senatorial campaign committee is... responsible for the content of this advertising.

what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

right now, we are following breaking news on news 4 midday. a 15-year-old is dead after being struck by a car walking to school. it happened around 7:00 this morning near the intersection of germantown road. police say the tenth grader at seneca valley high school was walking to school when the teen was hit by the car. the driver did stay at the scene. police are investigating what caused the accident. right now, president obama is preparing to head to new jersey to see some of the devastation sandy left behind. he just made an unscheduled visit to fema's headquarters to see how they are handling the disaster. this afternoon, he'll tour the areas of new jersey hardest hit with the governor, chris christie. flights are starting to get off the ground this morning after two days of thousands of cancellations caused by sandy.

chances are, you'll need plenty of patience if you are trying to leave town. megan mcgrath has been on this taking a look at things at reagan national airport. >> reporter: sandy may be out of here. things are far from normal at the airports. the departure board says it all. look at the canceled flighted. there are plenty of folks who are still stranded. it looked like a strange slumber party, people hunkered down on benches and heating vents. >> not too much i can do, really. i try to get rest. calling the airlines every day to try to get an earlier flight. there's nothing available. >> reporter: more than 16,000 flights were canceled camp limits of sandy, leaving passengers stranded at airports around the country.

such a backlog of flights, seats are hard to come by. >> canceled flights. i got over here, so -- >> reporter: what have you been doing? >> on the computer, having something to eat, relaxing. >> it has been inconvenient. you can't change the weather. i can't blame anybody. >> reporter: incredibly inconvenienced, for some, there's a silver lining. after several canceled flights, megan brown got on a plane to jamaica and traveling in style. >> i'm making it. i found out i'm flying first class. >> reporter: there's no easy fix to this. seats are in short supply and demand is very high. it's going to be a few days before things get back to normal. from reagan national airport, megan mcgrath, news 4. >> this next story is a sad one. no sign of two young new york

city boys swept away in sandy's floodwaters. the two boys, ages 2 and 4 were in a car with their mom when the winds and water overwhelmed staten island. the sons tried to escape the rising water when they were swept away. crews spent the night draining a nearby pond to look for the missing boys. right now, the captain of a ship that sank during sandy is still missing. crews searched 90 miles off cape hatteras, north carolina. the bounty is an 18th century replica ship. it can no longer be seen in the waves of the ocean. there was hope the 63-year-old could survive in the relatively mild, 77 degree waters. 15 crew members were rescued. one passed away. a massive fire in queens destroyed the home of a new york congressman. the home of republican bob

turner was one of at least 80 destroyed by the roaring six-alarm fire in the breezy point neighborhood of queens. he expressed gratitude that they were safe. turner, who took anthony weaner's seat is about to lose his seat because of redistricting. turn our attention now to the weather. veronica johnson is outside on the weather deck. >> she was just inside and thought she would be outside. think no mor. >> how is it feeling? >> chilly. my hands are in my pockets for sure. do not tease me about the bright color on my jacket. i know it's loud. it's the kind of loud color to wear when you are trick or treating so you can be seen. i have the heavyweight jacket on today. it's the kind of thing you need, the heavyweight jacket or light coat through the day. it's going to stay chilly. temperatures throughout the area

coming in at 48 degrees. currently 45. we have 46 in north montgomery county. 51 degrees currently in the pax river. look at areas to the west. 37 morgantown. 39, charleston. cold enough for the snow to hang around there. the cloud cover and a wee bit of blue sky you might see from time-to-time today. we have sprinkles up to the north. forecast for the afternoon, 52 to 56 degrees. cool, breezy. again, heavyweight jacket or lightweight coat. coming up, an hourly forecast between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. coming up this evening for the trick or treaters. we'll take another look at the weekend. >> stop being defensive. i was about to say pretty in pink. >> you said it now. >> let's head out to the roads. we had problems earlier today.

fortunately, it was looking better last time we talked to danella. >> how is it now? >> better. a accident is clear. travel lanes are open. disable still blocking just the left lane as you travel southbound columbia pike. stick to the right to get by the car. back to you both. >> thank you. we have more on the breaking news out of germantown. a 15-year-old is dead after being struck by a car walking to school. it happened about 7:00. let's talk to pat collins on the scene. pat? >> i'm here with the mother of the victim. the mother is gwendolyn ward. she was struck and killed by a car walking to school. what can you tell me about what happened? >> not really sure what happened. when i was at work, my son called me and said my daughter was in an accident. the police came and got them. when i got there, they said she

was hit by a car crossing the street on the way to school. when i got to the hospital, she wasn't -- she wasn't breathing. they said she passed on the way over. i just want -- i don't understand. that was my baby, my youngest child. we all are like -- it's unbelievable. i don't know -- i don't really know what to feel right now. i'm upset, but that's my baby. >> reporter: she was -- >> she's not here anymore. >> reporter: she would walk this way every day? >> this way. she came down middle brooke road. i wish i would have took her to school this morning, but i left early. i wasn't able to. my son called and said she was in an accident. from the impact of her hitting the ground, it was a lot of head trauma and injuries and internal bleeding. i don't know what to feel right

now. >> reporter: tell me a little bit about her. >> very outgoing. goofy. you know, she made everybody laugh. she loved her grandmother and her grandfather. she loved facebook and taking pictures. i probably have a million pictures on my phone right now. >> reporter: for her to die this way -- >> it's unbelievable. i can't believe my daughter is not here. >> reporter: our prayers are with you. that's g wednesdayly ward, the mother of the 15-year-old killed this morning as she was walking to school out here on wisteria drive. more details coming up, news 4 at 5:00, news 4 at 6:00. >> very sad and devastating news for that mother. thank you for that report. >> our thoughts and prayers go out to that family. we hope to soon learn the identity of the man federal

agents say was behind a series of pipe bomb attacks in northern virginia. agents raided this trailer yesterday. investigators say they are searching for a man who they believe threw pipe bombs at three homes in stafford county yesterday. the suspect's girlfriend and another law enforcement officer. no one was hurt in any of the attacks. la tee shah died on monday at a nursing facility in bethesda. she was the former secretary to jacqueline kennedy and helped mold the camelot style. she wrote extensively about manners and etiquette. she visited us often here at news 4 and was 86 years old. time is 11:41. still ahead, the scary moments

leading up to some of the happiest for some new yorkers caught in danger of hurricane sandy. plus, a costume fashion show for halloween. what is your costume and are you in style this year? stay with us.

one new york woman will have quite the memory of sandy. she was in labor when the storm struck. that was just the beginning of a terrifying ordeal. she shared her story the us. >> this is my son mar cuss. he was born 12:42 a.m. >> reporter: lm five hours after hurricane sandy hit land, mica was born. it was a labor of love bringing him into the world. >> it was more crazy than we could imagine. >> reporter: julia was having contracts at the medical center when the power went out and the

back-up generator failed. her husband was getting something to eat. >> i walked to the cafeteria, blackout. >> reporter: he couldn't see the storm, but could hear it. >> the hurricane was battering the hospital. everything was shaking. i heard a crazy rushing of water sound coming off the fdr to first avenue and the hospital. the basement was flooded. the ground floor was flooded. >> reporter: back in the delivery room, julia was having powerf fuful contracts. >> they were 30 seconds apart. it was painful. >> it was insane. >> he struck in and helped doctors give his wife an epidural in the dark. >> i was holding a cell phone above her putting in the i.v. and epidural. >> the hospital evacuated julia and the other patients. >> they took her off the bed,

got her on a sled and proceeded to slide her really slowly down eight flights of stairs. there was a lot of screaming going on. there were about six people with newborns, like a group of six people, an oxygen tank and other medical attachments trying to get by us to get down more quickly. >> reporter: after 20 minutes, they reached the ground floor and rushed to the hospital. the roads were dangerous. >> as we werevi avenue, i hear a loud bang on top of the ambulance. once we got to the hospital, we found out that a tree branch of something fell on the ambulance as we were driving. >> reporter: the couple made it just in time. within minutes, mica was born arriving into the world as the calm after the storm. >> i have never been in so much pain, you know, throughout all these hours. as soon as he was born, you know, you just forget. >> a reminder, there are always

stories of triumph in the midst of tragedy. let's check in with cnbc for the rest of the day's business headlines. how you hanging? >> not bad, keith. especially after seeing that life goes on story you were just sh showing. at the new york stock exchange, opened without a hitch. markets trading at a narrow range after a positive start. the dow is down six, nasdaq down 13. michael bloomberg rang the opening bell. able to get back to business, the exchange running on back-up generators with power in manhattan not existence. general motors up 4% in early trading after beating expectations with the third quarter earnings of $1.48 billion. it was profits tied to sales in

north america that made the difference. mastercard reporting a strong increase in income in the third quarter. higher consumer spending in the u.s. and compliments about the job prospect saw job holders make $676 billion in purchases worldwide. of course, we are playing catch up with dozens of earnings reports that were postponed because of the storm and markets being closed. finally, it's official. the labor statistic say the jobs reports release on time on schedule. it's the last within before election day. concerns it would get pushed back because of the two-day federal shutdown we all experienced. back to you. have a great day. >> good to see you, again. >> with all we have been through this week, a lot of folks may have forgotten it's halloween. your kids are not going to let you forget it. a lot of folks in georgetown have not forgotten. you have a few hours to get a

costume together if you don't have one yet. andrea joins us this morning with ideas and to tell us about what's going on with halloween this year. we thought it was going to be lost. >> yeah, we thought so, too. yesterday, we had power so we were opened. we were going to close at 6:00, stayed open until 9:00. >> we understand this year, 41 million kids between 5 and 14 are expected to go trick or treating. maybe it will be later in the day. what are some of the popular costumes? tv shows have a lot to do with it. >> tv shows are huge. the walki ining dead series whee have zombies. we have a zombie make-up kit. grim and also the hunger games. >> oh, absolutely. that was great, wasn't it for this year? >> very big.

a game of throne. we have a lot of people coming in to put costumes together for that. >> $8 billion is what they say americans are going to spend. do you think it's going to hit that from what you have seen? >> i think so. even with the storm, people are still, there were a lot of parties this past weekend. i think there's parties this weekend. maybe with the storm, people will say now we need to celebrate and come out and make up for the two days that were lost. >> the presidential race brings out costumes. we know there are some. we have a little event here and one of our guys wore a binder of women. we know big bird is big this year. you brought the presidential masks. are they hot this year? i think we can guess which is which nehere. >> yeah. political masks are popular. obama has been big. we sold out of mitt romney

earlier, about a week and a half ago. >> really? interestingly, he's got the telltale hair and obama has the ears. they like to capture something that speaks of the candidate. i hope that -- do you know -- does the presidential mask usually sell, the one that wins is the one that is sold the most or no? >> not necessarily. not necessarily. it's not ever -- we don't really know until the election is over. >> all right. good answer to that one. gangnam style, that's a big one this year, right? >> it has been very big. a lot of people like to make their own costume. they say do you have a costume and we actually did have this in our inventory. it's a blue tuxedo. in one of the scenes. that's what people have been asking for. so, the other thing that i realize today, as i relook at

the video, we have a latex horse mask and he's in a stable with horses and riding on a carousel. we sold, we have one horse mask left, i think. i think that's why. >> that might have sold to the man that megan mcgrath had on our air on the day of the big storm. anyway. that's great. the pirate. you brought a little of everything. this is keith's mask, he's going wear it tonight. >> we sold out of those. >> thanks so much. andrea thanks for coming. >> thank you. >> it's 11:53. coming up, a maryland man is a big winner this morning. veronica johnson will be back with another check of the fore

anncr: it's said that character is what we do... when we think no one is looking. mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas. his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

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the express lanes on the virginia side of the beltway will open as early as november 17th. v-dot made the announcement moments ago. you need an easy pass if you want to use the express lanes. express lanes will open as early as saturday, november 17th, just in time for thanksgiving travel. >> one local man can say he's a world series champ. he just won the world see reese of poker. the 23-year-old won $8.5 million plus a $100,000 gold bracelet. >> let's look at the stories we are following on news 4. pat lawson muse is in the news room with a preview. >> coming up at 4:00, we are staying on top of breaking news today. what led to a deadly accident involving a 15-year-old on her way to school this morning. the long lasting impact of sandy in one community that is used to dealing with tragedy. how their past will help them rebuild after floods and fires.

coming up today on news 4 at 5:00, jim rosenfield tours the damage in staten island. we'll see his report tonight. >> thank you. veronica? >> this is what people want to know. they want to know the halloween forecast. let's take a look at it. 6:08 is when the sunsets. during that time, temperatures will be falling from the low 50s to 48 degrees. creepy, cloudy, chilly. >> thanks a lot. that's news 4 midday. tune in to news 4 at 4:00, 5:00 at 6:00. >> we'll be back tomorrow.

what's special about mini babybel light cheese? ooh! little black dress meet 50 calorie tasty snack! awesome! wonder if they have that in my size! which is size awesome. mini babybel cheese from the laughing cow. have you laughed today? infuses creamy mozzarella with the mediterranean flavors of sun-dried tomatoes and basil.